A Campus To Be Proud Of

1200 ACRES A Campus to be Proud of

Grounds & Gardens Manager Alistair Cotton, Senior Gardener Jane Dickens and Deputy Grounds Manager Tom Wood, give us a glimpse behind the scenes of the beautiful grounds and gardens here at LWC

Jane’s favourite corner of the campus just outside School House

THE GARDENS

What is your favourite spot around the LWC campus?

JANE: My favourite spot on the campus has to the roundabout bed outside School House. The uninspiring shrubs were removed and replaced with a colour wheel theme. These colours tumble into the borders outside the house. The oats grasses in the centre provide great movement while providing height and vision of the boarding house. The roundabout is underplanted with tulips which looked wonderful last year, all flowering while the Wisteria was in bloom.

What projects have you been working on recently?

JANE: The Science Centre has been a big focus this year. The two Ginkgo Biloba trees closest to the building will sing against the brown exterior with their green leathery leaves will turn a buttery yellow in the Autumn. Ginkgo leaves have been found in fossils which we felt was a good choice for the Science Centre. We have also been planting 4000 perennial bulbs with names like Honk Tonk and Peppermint Stick for a bit of fun. Box hedging has been planted around the formal lawns to ensure continuity with the rest of the College campus. Lastly the Catering Team supplied a wish list of soft fruits for the south facing brick wall. The overall planting of the Science Centre site is I hope, relaxed and fluid.

Do you think the campus grounds have an impact on the pupils?

JANE: Horticulture is a wonderful creative industry and our enthusiasm should come across in the way we care for the grounds and move the

campus forward. I think the children do notice. They love the chocolate scented Cosmos by The MFL Centre and the roses outside the Gavin Hall. We can see the children encouraging each other to smell them. If they embark into this massive Horticultural industry or merely enjoy it for leisure, we have done a great job in getting them interested.

What attracted you to the job here at LWC?

JANE: I have been the senior gardener at LWC of three years this January, since leaving college I’ve always worked in schools, children are fun, and I really enjoy being part of a community. This community environment was very evident on the day of my interview, the college a real friendly village feel about it.

What’s your favourite season at the College?

JANE: It’s very apparent that Spring is my favourite time of year! I love a tulip, but a fox tailed lily (pictured) is a top bulb. We have more emerging this year, providing the frost isn’t as late as last year.

If you could change anything about the grounds, what would it be?

JANE: It would be great if we had a lake, this would bring in more wildlife, a space for students and staff alike to watch the world go by. More bird boxes around the site would be good, students could make them, put cameras into them and form part of the ‘heads up’ policy.

What is your vision for the grounds?

JANE: When I started, I had a vision to open up the site, so a fair amount of the generic shrubs have been removed.

Are there any rare specimen plants?

JANE: We have some beautiful common spotted orchids and bee orchids up in Sheephouse Copse and few dotted around on site. They are wonderful to see.

What is your favourite plant?

JANE: I would have to stick with Tulips because of their beautiful colours and the fact they emerge in my favourite time of the year.

MAGNIFICENT TREES

The Cedar trees outside School House and the on the Headmaster’s lawn are iconic. Do they take much looking after?

ALI: Sadly, Cedar trees don’t live for that long compared to other varieties. These trees will be with us for another couple of decades though. The frost and snow can get into the branches and expediate damage. We have removed a few limbs to prevent this from hapenning and keep them going for as long as possible.

The trees are quite special here. Are there any in particular that fascinate you?

JANE: The Paperbark Maples outside the Humanities building and Julyans are beautiful. We have quite a few of them and I am told are worth quite a bit! They only grow 2cm a year and they are such a joy to be around. The bark literally peels off like tissue paper and looks stunning.

The magnificent Cedar tree on the Headmaster’s lawn The tissue-like bark of the elegant Paperbark Maple trees

THE GROUNDS

What might our readers be surprised to learn about the Grounds & Gardens Team?

ALI: Unlike other schools we are able to do a lot of other tasks that many other businesses would outsource such as hard landscaping, pathways, soak aways, irrigation work, fencing etc. Job satisfaction is high because you can see where your hearts gone.

What is your favourite spot around the LWC campus?

ALI: Any cricket outfield! Anyone who knows me, knows that I love cricket. The satisfaction I get from preparing the ground year round, ready for the cricket season is immense.

What is a challenge for you and the Team?

What projects have you been working on recently?

ALI: We are in the middle of re-seeding all the sports fields with grass that is more tolerant to drought so it can cope with the dry summers. That way it’s not quite so soul destroying to see the grass die every summer!

ALI: The soil! The heavy clay here can be a real challenge. ”I am Particularly with the pitches in the winter months where immensely drainage becomes a real proud of my problem. Team here.”

What is your favourite plant?

ALI: Grass! It is the most underrated plant out there. Grasses absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than trees and there are so many

CLEVER GRASS

Why have we been sowing so much grass recently?

TOM: As Ali would say, grass is the most underrated plant. We have been sowing a variety of different grasses here at LWC. All of them are ‘Carbon4Grass’ seed mixes ensuring we help reduce LWC’s carbon footprint. These grass varieties work by “locking up” additional carbon, reducing carbon gas production, and by decreasing the mowing frequency as they are slow growing.

Have you just been using these carbon grasses only on the sports pitches?

TOM: We have also been using them during all our landscaping projects on new and redeveloped grassed areas such as the areas around catering, the Science Centre and Headmaster’s house. Given their success, we have now started using them on all sports pitches, lawns and other improvement projects.

different varieties working hard to clean up our planet.

Can you tell us a little more about the beautiful wild flower beds?

ALI: Tom our Deputy Grounds Manager has led the way on this. He and the team have created quite a few beds. Notably at the top of the Cinder track and further down the path. There are also some lovely areas as you go into Sutton and behind the Maintenance Building. There are so many obvious environmental benefits and we will keep planting more wild flower areas in the years to come.

Can you tell us a little about your Team here at LWC?

ALI: I am immensely proud of my Team here. Both the Grounds and Garden teams help each other out and between us we have many years of experience and a love of horticulture. Some of our dedicated Grounds Team